Pythons wiping out Everglades animal population

A16.4-foot python 

The huge pythons in the Everglades, a natural region of subtropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, are wiping out large numbers of raccoons, opossums, bobcats and other mammals in the Everglades, a study says.

The study, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that sightings of medium-size mammals are down dramatically as much as 99 per cent.

The researchers found staggering declines in animal sightings: a drop of 99.3 per cent among raccoons, 98.9 per cent for opossums, 94.1 per cent for white-tailed deer and 87.5 per cent for bobcats.

Scientists fear the pythons could disrupt the food chain and upset the Everglades' environmental balance in ways difficult to predict.

"The effects of declining mammal populations on the overall Everglades ecosystem, which extends well beyond the national park boundaries, are likely profound," said John Willson, a research scientist at Virginia Tech University and co-author of the study.

The origins of Burmese pythons in south Florida are unknown, but many were imported into the US through the pet trade.

"They are a new top predator in Everglades National Park - one that shouldn't be there,” said Prof Michael E Dorcas, Davidson College, North Carolina.

Burmese pythons can grow to be 26 feet (8 meters) long and weigh more than 200 pounds (90 kilograms), and they have been known to swallow animals as large as alligators. They and other constrictor snakes kill their prey by coiling around it and suffocating it.

The National Park Service has counted 1,825 Burmese pythons that have been caught in and around Everglades National Park since 2000. Among the largest so far was a 156-pound (70-kilogram), 16.4-foot (5-meter) one captured earlier this month.